The present invention relates generally to interpersonal communication systems and more particular to a system for storing and retrieving person information used as selection criteria for interpersonal interactions.
Cellular telephone technology allows users to initiate and maintain communications almost regardless of location. In addition, most cellular telephone handsets (cell phones) provide for transmission of text via email and text messaging as well as conventional voice communications. Further developments include recordation and transmission of digital photographs and video. Therefore, through current cell phone technology, users can communicate a wide variety of types of information to one another. For example, individuals who have never met before can communicate via cell phone and not only gain recognition of one another's voice patterns and qualities but also, through use of integral digital cameras, view one another's facial characteristics. This ability to introduce oneself through both voice and video can prove helpful, for example, to aid recognition at a later in-person meeting.
In order to secure and authenticate use of cell phones and any information that may be recorded and transmitted, some cell phones are provided with software-based security measures such as password protection. Further security may be obtained through use of cell phones having biometric identification devices such as fingerprint scanners. A fingerprint scan records the characteristics of the pad of a person's fingertip including patterns of ridges (epidermal ridges) and furrows that form arches, loops and whorls. A digital image of the fingerprint is processed by software that maps minutiae points as they are located relative to one another. Minutiae point data may be processed by an algorithm to encode the data in a character string that is typically stored within a database and then searched relative to further, subsequent scans of the same fingerprint. Another means of comparing scanned to previously stored fingerprint data includes correlation based matching, which superimposes stored and scanned fingerprint images and calculates the correlation between corresponding stored and scanned pixels. To avoid fraudulent duplication of fingerprint images, a scanned image itself is often not retained by the system or scanner; only the processed data is stored.
Further methods of generating or obtaining unique biometric data include retinal and iris scans. A retinal scan reads the pattern of blood vessels in the back of the eye. An iris scan reads patterns of color variations as well as patterns of striations in the iris. As with fingerprints, such patterns in the retina and iris are unique to each individual.
Although such security measures may be used to authenticate usage of a device or system, what is needed is a method of authenticating interpersonal interactions such that meetings or other interactions with heretofore unknown individuals may be engaged in with a high degree of confidence in personal health and security through positive identification of another both as to identity and as to conformance with preselected criteria or parameters.